December 29, 2005

Interactive Quiz #102:
Smooth Maneuvers

No, the title doesn't reflect our moves on the dance floor. Instead, it refers to your pilot skills in something other than straight-and-level flight. Being cool, you'll coordinate your mind and feet to answer the following questions.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the questions as best you can, then click on the "Score my quiz answers" button to see your score and read the explanations. If you don't like your score the first time around, you can change some of your answers and resubmit. To get the most out of this quiz, we suggest you keep trying until you get a perfect score.

NOTE: When more than one answer is true, only the most complete, correct answer will be scored as correct. The answers are assumed to apply within the United States unless otherwise noted.

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1. In Brainteaser Quiz # 100, we casually mentioned the rarely appreciated phenomenon called ground effect. Any sensible discussion of takeoff or landing technique includes more than a passing nod to what the FAA calls "a condition of improved performance." While that may sound like a Viagra ad, it's actually from the FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook 8083-3A and refers to the improved airplane performance derived when operating near the Earth's surface, such as above a runway. Airplane performance enhancements from ground effect may include:
a. Reduction in upwash, downwash, and wingtip vortices.
b. Increase in upwash, downwash, and wingtip vortices.
c. Increased stall speed.
d. Local decrease in static pressure resulting in more accurate ram pressure readings at low airspeeds.

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2. As your airplane lifts and climbs out of ground effect, the airplane needs to decrease its angle of attack (AOA) in order to maintain the same lift coefficient found in ground effect.
a. True.
b. False.

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3. The ground is never far away from most piston aircraft. When not hidden by clouds, the ground is mostly pleasant to view and -- for some of us flying open-cockpit biplanes -- offers swell navigational assistance. Straight Kansas highways are easier to follow than a twitchy CDI needle. Also, roads are great for showing off your ground-reference-maneuver skills, something that's not just for students. Flying a traffic pattern utilizes skills learned from practicing turns-around-a-point, s-turns-across-a-road or eights-around- (and on-) pylons. Refer to the figure below and fill in the blanks: While flying a constant radius turn around the intersection, of the airplanes depicted the steepest bank should be at position (_____) and shallowest at position (_____). (The illustration intentionally depicts no bank or crab.)

a. B, A
b. C, B
c. B, D
d. D, B

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4. Once you've conquered turns-around-a-point, find two points and fly eights-around-pylons. Essentially, you apply the principles of turns-around-a-point to make two equal-radius circles over two separate points (pylons) while holding altitude. From there it's a cakewalk into eights-on-pylons, a very cool maneuver, which requires the pilot to vary altitude in order to maintain the (_____) altitude. (Fill in the blank.)
a. Profile
b. Pivotal
c. Apex
d. Tangential
e. Absolute

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5. While practicing ground-reference maneuvers, instructors should emphasize proper coordination of controls (basic stick-and-rudder, keeping-the-ball-centered stuff) and airspeed control. Why? Because getting sloppy in these tasks can lead to stalls, and practicing stall recovery close to the ground doesn't leave much time for discussion of technique. Likewise, when you're descending in the traffic pattern, it's not a time to skid around turns, get too slow, and stall/spin. So, take the bird up to at least 1500 feet AGL to practice stalls. And before you bring the nose up, complete this statement from FAA-H-8083-3A: "A stall occurs when the smooth airflow over the airplane's wing is disrupted, and the lift degenerates rapidly. This is caused when the wing exceeds its:
a. Critical calibrated airspeed.
b. Critical indicated airspeed.
c. Critical angle of incidence.
d. Critical angle of attack.

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6. Time to be controversial: Good pilot technique says that, in stall recovery, directional control (turning) is maintained or re-established through aggressive application of full-aileron input opposite to the turn.
a. True
b. False

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7. Now that you've recovered from the stall in the previous question and climbed back to maneuvering altitude, let's pull a couple of Gs and watch the scenery change. Steep turns are a must on any flight review given by this writer, mainly because they're fun, and the pilot can demonstrate smooth handling of the airplane as hands and feet move in concert to hold altitude and keep the ball centered. As bank increases so does wing loading, until at 60 degrees of bank you're pulling roughly 2 Gs. Because of the relatively high load factors in this maneuver and to avoid overstressing the airframe, airspeed should not exceed the airplane's:
a. Design Maneuvering Speed (VMS)
b. Design Maneuvering Speed (VA)
c. Design Limit Speed (VLS)
d. Design Limit Speed (VSL)

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8. Flying in circles is easy. Making a 180-degree turn away from rising terrain, however, takes finesse. Commercial pilots learn to demonstrate a maximum performance climbing turn that begins in approximately straight-and-level flight and concludes with the airplane pointed 180 degrees from the entry heading, with the wings level, full power, nose high, nudging minimal controllable airspeed, and dignity intact. This maneuver is called a:
a. Quantrell
b. Shirelle
c. Escadrille
d. Chandelle

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9. Good pilots are lazy pilots. They don't rush the preflight, manhandle the controls, or talk real fast on the radio. Flight progresses at its own pace with the centered pilot at the controls in complete harmony with stick, rudder, throttle, and a CD playing Miles Davis' "Kinda Blue" in the headset. This puts you in the mood for Lazy Eights, a chance to casually display your expert pilot technique by lazily swooping across the countryside with the airplane's longitudinal axis inscribing an 8 lying on its lazy side. This maneuver is included in the Commercial Pilot PTS, so it'll take hard work to master being lazy. To do that you must understand that a Lazy Eight is a climbing and descending maneuver with ever-changing bank and headings. Maximum bank (approximately 30 degrees) occurs at the (_____) point in the maneuver, and maximum pitch down occurs at the (_____) point. (Fill in the blanks.)
a. 60-degree, 135-degree
b. 90-degree, 180-degree
c. 45-degree, 135-degree
d. 90-degree, 135-degree

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10. Practical application scenario: Returning to the airport you hear the AWOS report the winds as 180 (degrees) at 15 (knots). You're landing runway 18, because ... well, because it's the last question and we didn't want to tax you with a crosswind. Still, applying all the skills you mastered in the previous nine questions, if you flew a complete traffic pattern (upwind, crosswind, downwind, base leg, final) with left-hand traffic, where should your steepest bank be of these choices?
a. Downwind turning base
b. Upwind turning crosswind
c. Base leg turning final
d. All bank angles should be the same.

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